(first posted 4/5/2011) What ever you do, don’t ask me what year this truck is. The Dodge Power Wagon long transcended such mere mortal trivialities. I wasn’t planning on this CC, but it so perfectly epitomizes one of the key personality traits of Chrysler, as so well embodied in the 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook: the kind of anvil-tough products America was once famous for. But the Power Wagon makes even the Cranbrook look like a mayfly in comparison. These military-grade trucks were built with only the subtlest of improvements for over thirty years. This one could well be sixty years old, and it’s getting freshened up a bit for the next sixty.

The Power Wagon was heavily based on the Army’s 3/4 ton WW2 truck. Like Jeep, Dodge figured it might as well try to make some more money from their very profitable war-time contracts after the fighting ended. They grafted on a civilian Dodge pickup cab, and built an eight-foot bed specifically for the PW. The 126″ chassis, 4-speed transmission, transfer case and the 230 CID flat head six were essentially carry-overs, and had more than proven themselves.

That veritable monolith of a motor had its origins in the original Plymouth six of 1933. The PW used the “long block” Dodge version, and after 1961, had 250.6 cubic inches. The truck version that went into the PW had heavy duty components and full oil filtering and full pressure oiling. There is no American engine that I can think of that has a better rep for toughness than these.

Their virtue was not horsepower, but grunt. Maximum torque on these engines was developed at 1600 rpm, thanks to little 3.25″ bores and a mammoth 4.63″ stroke (for the 230). In off-road situations the PW so excelled in, that was perfect. On the highway? It would probably do fifty or so, because of the gearing. Interstates and Power Wagons are mutually exclusive.

The PW stayed in the Dodge catalog right through 1968, but exports continued through 1971, and some were assembled as late as 1978, with slant six engines.

Power Wagons chassis were fitted with a wide array of bodies, including fire engines and station wagons/school buses for those roadless areas. Now that’s a woody that warms my blood.

The PW featured here is undergoing a very leisurely restoration. One of these days, years, decades or centuries, we’ll check back in again and revel in its youthfulness.

It’s probably a 1950 or later as it looks like it must be a 4-blade fan. The earlier models had a 6-blade per Allpar; the underhood picture has too big a gap for there to be more than 4 blades on the fan.

The old saying out West was that a Power Wagon could get through or past anything but a gas pump.

Back when the Hummer was conceived (before it needed to be a rolling bomb bunker like it is now) there were a few commentators that thought the Army should have simply purchased all the remaining Power Wagons out there and gave them Cummins turbo diesel engines.

There was one of these in Williamsburg, Missouri. A little over 20 years ago, my brother-in-law had 10 acres of property out there with a small pond that needed dredging. A guy in town showed up with a converted military power wagon – open top, Jeep-type door openings – no doors with a large derrick on it with a bucket. He would swing the derrick out over the water and drop the bucket and reel it in and the teeth on the busket would clean out everything in it’s path. A very old, but impressive machine, indeed! Tough as nails, WW2 vintage.

Len Deighton wrote that the toughness of American military vehicles was the envy of both friend and foe. As he pointed out, American civilian delivery trucks of the era had to suck up a thousand miles of rough North American roads at a stretch and come back for more. One of the most treasured prizes for the Germans on the Eastern Front was to capture Lend-Lease vehicles from the Soviets, regardless of brand–GMC, Studebaker, Dodge, Jeep, as well as the British Bedfords.
Another epiphany–even for the British–was the ease with which American trucks could be maintained. Replacement parts just bolted on, without massive applications of rattail files and sweat.

I have one of these machines and is complete. Looks like about a one ton, 6 cly Dodge, with winch on the front and open top, two seats, 16 inch tires, deep box on the back and has a pto shaft going to the rear. If anyon wants to see a picture email me and I will be happy to send them on to you. This machine should be restored. What a history in this truck….. Thanks LeGrande Lamb

Apart from the cummins diesel, also add bilstein shocks, revamp the suspension and give that old Dodge the needed repairs it deserves. That way you can have a handy and reliable truck that you use as a service vehicle at 1/3 that cost of a new one. Also they are cheaper to insure.

Thanks to everybody chiming in on my 1941 WC-12 Dodge Power Wagon. Late 40 early 41 was the first year for the Flat Fender. This was a field find in 2007, and I’ve been working on it ever since. I fell in love with this truck design when I was 16, it took me 34 years for me to secure one for myself. ( never give up on a dream ). It is virtually a new truck at this time,as far as running gear and much more.Enclosed are some recent pictures to check on it’s progress.

If some one out there wants one of these, I can guide you as to how you can enjoy one also…!

This tread is a little old, but I am lively interested in owing a classic Power Wagon. Let me know where I can find one. The major issue (in NY) is registering one. If you don’t find a vehicle with a title or a original bill of sale (technically impossible), you are basically hopeless.
Greg

The long block mentioned in the article was the Chrysler/DeSoto L6. Dodge/Plymouth used the short block in their passenger cars. The 251ci engine was the basis of the mighty 5 bank tank engine during the war. The 251ci took over after 230 production ended presumably until the slant 6 had proven its long term reliability.

Early in my law enforcement years, the local fire department had a brush truck, to be driven off road, dousing grass fires. It was a Dodge Power Wagon. One day a grass fire broke out on the outskirts of town. First on the scene after the police cars was the Chief in the Power Wagon, at the wheel with a big sheepish grin (Yee-Hi!) with a volunteer in back, holding on for dear life and trying to aim his water cannon the best he could. It was a small fire and the Power Wagon was enough. By the time the engines got there, the flames were out and the Chief and his buddy were ready to go back to the barn for a tall, cool one.

Is this from the same breed as what they call a Dodge Beep ? In the post-war years that Dodge was used by the Dutch Army, till it was superseded by the newly developed DAF YA-126 (with a 6 cylinder Hercules gasoline engine) in the early fifties.

As I said , I like it ~ it’s a very basic tool , one that works incredibly hard if you know how to operate it .

When I was young on a Dairy Farm in Rural New Hampshire in 1967 we bought a $50 M38A1 from the Army base nearby whose name I’ve forgotten Maybe Dyers ? . that’s almost certainly wrong ~ I know we got loads of 1950’s vintage International truck from Ayers A.F.B. ,usually for $25 ~ $50 , no one else wanted them but we worked those things hard .

Ft. Devin , perhaps ? .

So long ago it was .

My very first vehicle was a 1959 Ford F-100 stepside from Ayaers A.F.B. , $25 , an ex runway crash truck , they description of it sounded awfu;l but (IMO) it was pretty cherry , I think we paid $25 for it , the Leece-Neville 100 ampere alternator was dead so I took a generator off some rusty junker in that flooded field all Farms have and use to store old unwanted junk…

Anyways , it (the Jeep) was nearly pristine and had nary a dent / scratch on it , went anywhere , I vividly remember it ” swimming ‘ through some deep mud holes in back dirt roads considered impassible by anything else .

My dad bought this jeep in 1967 (the year I was born), and used it mainly for plowing snow off the driveway once or twice a year. He had a friend do a little body work and paint maybe 25 years ago. A lot of people comment on the confused markings of the army and marines, but my dad did 4 years in the Marines and 16 in the army, plus a couple in the coast guard, so I leave it that way.

It has a 12 volt battery, so must have been converted at some point, but I don’t know when or by who.

You lucky dog ~
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you got to keep one of your Father’s vehicles ? .
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Sweet ~ adjust those valves , hot change the oil and enjoy it for decades to come .
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Keep an eye on the chassis to body support wings ~ they rust away to nothing but are not terribly difficult to repair or replace .
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-Nate